Artificial intelligence (AI) was the dominant topic at the most influential auto finance conclave of 2024: the 15th annual Auto Finance Summit (AFS), held this year in Las Vegas. AFS has often set the tone and agenda for the future of auto financing as a whole, and all signs point to a significant boom in this area. This was clear in sessions covering cross-sector synergies, discreet regulation, and disruption in the sharing economy.
At this year’s summit, it was remarkable to see how lenders were much less hesitant to use AI to automate decision-making, underwriting and funding. We saw from the presentations that the majority of institutions were working to use technology to help them operate more efficiently while handling significantly larger loan volumes.
“We are at an inflection point for the adoption of AI in the industry. » Mike Lavinchief operating officer of a subprime auto lender Consumer Wallet Services (CPS), he said, as part of the “Executive Dialogue on the Future of Auto Finance” panel, where he was joined by senior industry executives from JP Morgan Chase, Santander Consumer United States And Westlake Financial. Key industry challenges the executives discussed included inflation and restrictions in credit markets.
Meanwhile, CPS attracted attention at the summit by announcing that it had integrated Informed.IQ‘s Dealer Verify loan origination tool, an AI-powered solution that has already increased CPS same-day financing by 100%, according to Teri Robinsonexecutive vice president of sales and assembly of the company.
Maintain Compliance
Compliance with regulatory guidelines remained a dominant theme. Many sessions addressed the challenges of complying with consumer protection requirements, data privacy rules and conformity of ancillary products. Lenders are besieged by complex regulatory obligations, which encourage and enable competition and innovation, but must be managed carefully if they are to avoid crippling fines that could bankrupt them.
In addition to presenting an opportunity to engage in dialogue with regulators, the summit also facilitated collaboration between industry players, including financial institutions, technology providers and OEMs – partners who were able to explore innovations technology, share their ideas and best practices to demonstrate how to conduct automobile financing activities in a regulatory-compliant manner.
The keys to success
The Women in Auto Finance luncheon, sponsored by Informed.IQ, included a keynote address from Ting Cuiexecutive director and head of the corporate strategy department at Hyundai Capital America. The emphasis was on putting women at the forefront in the auto financing sector the industry and the direction of innovation in the future.
“At present, facing such a challenging environment for automobile financing, we need multifaceted perspectives and intellectual resources more than ever,” Cui said.
The message to auto finance as the industry looks to 2025: If you want to succeed, you’ll need to focus on developing technology solutions and strong compliance culture and management. The warm reception to AI solutions and the focus on regulation suggest that a shift is underway in the way auto finance companies operate and how they serve their customers.
The key takeaway for many attendees was that the auto finance industry is no longer just repeating buzzwords about innovation, but actively implementing it. AI tools, as CPS has shown, are evolving to become more integrated with business systems, moving from discussion to application and setting standards for service and efficiency.
For some, Auto Finance Summit 2024 highlighted the moment when AI is moving from an interesting tech toy to an essential tool in the auto finance toolbox – and a new phase of the industry begins.
Jessica Gonzalez is the director of lending strategies at Informed.IQ and has over 15 years of experience in the financial services industry, including mandates at Santander Consumer United States And Visa.
Content sponsored by Informed.IQ.